Meet Mr Bones, the canine hero of Paul Auster's remarkable new novel, Timbuktu, his first work of fiction in five years. Mr Bones is the sidekick and confidant of Willy G. Christmas, the brilliant, troubled and altogether original poet-saint from Brooklyn. Like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza before them, they sally forth on a last great adventure, heading for Baltimore, Maryland, in search of Willy's high school teacher, Bea Swanson. Years have passed since Willy last saw his beloved mentor, who knew him in his previous incarnation as William Gurevitch, the son of Polish war refugees. But is Mrs Swanson still alive? And if she isn't, what will prevent Willy from vanishing into that other world known as Timbuktu?